By Michael Calia
MasterCard Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 29% as the
credit-card company posted higher purchase volume and revenue.
Shares of the company rose 3.2% in recent premarket trading as
the results exceeded analysts' expectations.
The results come as the picture steadily brightens for U.S.
consumers, while global economic uncertainties are heightened by a
strengthening dollar and falling oil prices.
"Despite a mixed global economy, we delivered solid results for
the quarter and for the full year in 2014," Chief Executive Ajay
Banga said in a news release Friday.
Purchase volume rose 12%, in terms of local currency, to $858
billion. Cross-border volume improved 19%, and processed
transactions rose 11% to 11.6 billion.
MasterCard said gross dollar volume rose 13% to $1.2 trillion on
a local-currency basis.
The company posted earnings of $801 million, or 69 cents a
share, up from $623 million, or 52 cents a share, in the prior-year
period.
Revenue rose 14% to $2.42 billion.
Analysts had projected 67 cents a share in profit and $2.39
billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
The results come a day after rival Visa Inc. posted higher
profit, adding that spending on credit and debit cards have been
strong while lower gasoline prices have consumers putting away some
of the savings and spending the rest.
MasterCard's report also comes more than a week after Mr. Banga
told The Wall Street Journal that he is seeing good credit trends
in the U.S. as banks and consumers move with caution during the
recovery. Additionally, he said consumers were receiving a boost
from lower oil prices as they can spend less on gasoline, although
it is too early to see if it would lead to a substantial increase
in spending.
The company, which has posted positive results recently as U.S.
consumers continue to recovery, is also looking to expand into
markets dominated by rival Visa Inc. In November, MasterCard said
it plans to launch a debit-card service in Canada this year.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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